This disclosure relates to polyetherimides and compositions containing the polyetherimides, as well as their method of manufacture and articles formed from the polyetherimide compositions.
Polyetherimides (“PEIs”) are amorphous, transparent, high performance polymers having a glass transition temperature (“Tg”) of greater than 180° C. PEIs further have high strength, heat resistance, modulus, and broad chemical resistance, and so are widely used in applications as diverse as automotive, telecommunication, aerospace, electrical/electronics, transportation, and healthcare.
One process for the manufacture of polyetherimides is by polymerization of alkali metal salts of dihydroxyaromatic compounds, such as bisphenol A disodium salt (BPA.Na2), with a bis(halophthalimide).
However, molding at high temperatures can degrade the properties and/or performance of the polyetherimides in some applications. Thus, there remains a need in the art for methods to produce such polyetherimides having improved performance during extended processing times at high temperatures.